Per the title, which do you prefer? My personal view is as follows:
Leasing :
- New car every 3-4 years
- Like the car enough, buy it at the end and have the history of service
- Keep up with the newest tech
- Always (at least hopefully) have a reliable car
- If you wreck and it is fixed, then you can throw the keys back at the dealer and walk away at the end of the lease. Don't have to deal with the possible long-term side effects from the wreck
- Don't have to get a loan out (BIG PLUS)
- Every 3-4 years, usually have to replace at least tires, sometimes even brakes so that is at the end of the lease, and you would not need to replace that since your lease of the vehicle is up
- If you do wreck, your lease payments are no longer due and no negative credit (Payment cancellation, GAP insurance)
- Life-time oil changes/tire rotations BIG plus
Buying
- Service record from day one
- Sometimes can get life-time oil changes/tire rotations
The way I see it, say your payment is $300 a month, so over 36 months that is $10,800. Which is.. $3,600 a year. Compared to buying and getting a loan, in the long run, if the vehicle is $30,000, and is financed for 72 months, say a low interest rate, that's about $36,000. Sometimes you can get the 0% APR financing which is great however.
Leasing :
- New car every 3-4 years
- Like the car enough, buy it at the end and have the history of service
- Keep up with the newest tech
- Always (at least hopefully) have a reliable car
- If you wreck and it is fixed, then you can throw the keys back at the dealer and walk away at the end of the lease. Don't have to deal with the possible long-term side effects from the wreck
- Don't have to get a loan out (BIG PLUS)
- Every 3-4 years, usually have to replace at least tires, sometimes even brakes so that is at the end of the lease, and you would not need to replace that since your lease of the vehicle is up
- If you do wreck, your lease payments are no longer due and no negative credit (Payment cancellation, GAP insurance)
- Life-time oil changes/tire rotations BIG plus
Buying
- Service record from day one
- Sometimes can get life-time oil changes/tire rotations
The way I see it, say your payment is $300 a month, so over 36 months that is $10,800. Which is.. $3,600 a year. Compared to buying and getting a loan, in the long run, if the vehicle is $30,000, and is financed for 72 months, say a low interest rate, that's about $36,000. Sometimes you can get the 0% APR financing which is great however.
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